


Keeping Warm

by Beleriandings



Category: Torchwood
Genre: Episode: s03e02 Children of Earth - Day 2, Found Family, Friendship, Gen, Nap fic, Platonic Cuddling, Team as Family, fluff adjacent?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-30
Updated: 2020-10-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:07:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27285421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Beleriandings/pseuds/Beleriandings
Summary: It's not that easy, trying to sleep in a cold warehouse in the middle of the end of the world.
Relationships: Gwen Cooper & Ianto Jones, background Gwen/Rhys and Jack/Ianto as per canon
Comments: 16
Kudos: 31





	Keeping Warm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [violetmessages](https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetmessages/gifts).



> EDIT: I realised maybe a few minutes after I posted this that I messed up the timeline of Children of Earth, oops. It doesn't make sense for it to be set on the night of Day 2, because the team don't get set up in the warehouse until the morning of Day 3. I think I was too consumed by the overwhelming need to write hugs that I completely forgot this. ....Also the fact that I haven't watched CoE all in the right order for several months, and even then I've remixed it like three different ways in different AUs in the intervening time. So please forgive me messing up the timeline, and pretend this is set in a slight AU where they get to the warehouse on the evening of Day 2 (which honestly I think makes more sense anyway because otherwise what were they doing all that time? It could not have taken a whole night for them to drive into London!!!)

Gwen was worn through with exhaustion, but tonight she couldn't sleep. It was the light in the warehouse, she thought. Too orange, garish streetlight filtering in through the dirty glass panels of the far wall. That, and the cold and the damp; they'd had to keep the fire burning to avoid freezing, but Gwen could still see her breath in the orange glow.

She sighed, pressing her hand to her face and shifting to try to get comfortable curled up on her half of the broken-down, mildewed old sofa. She peered over to the other side; at least Ianto was sound asleep, apparently exhausted after rescuing all of them today. Gwen was glad he was able to rest at least.

She looked over to the other end of the warehouse next, feeling a warm bloom of affection as she saw Rhys silhouetted against the glass on the far side, still and silent and watchful. She'd argued for him to have the first shift to sleep along with Ianto, but all three of the others had shouted her down, reasoning that Gwen was pregnant so she needed the rest. She wasn't best pleased with that, but she'd been too exhausted anyway to argue as much as she usually would have.

And now she couldn't even sleep. Gwen sighed and raised her head a bit, peering around to see if she could see Jack. He'd mentioned going out and watching over the outer door; sure enough, she couldn't see him with Rhys. He was probably up on the roof by now, she thought with a gentle shake of her head.

Gwen rolled her shoulders again, trying to stretch the stiffness and the numb chill out of her joints. It was times like this when Jack's thick greatcoat seemed like a genuinely practical clothing choice. Her leather jacket wasn't really the thing for this. As well as the cold, and the awkward crick in her neck, and the fact that she really, really would have liked a hot shower, she also felt vaguely nauseous. Which was just what she needed.

She put her hand on her stomach, frowning. _Pregnant_ ; she hadn't really had much chance to process it yet, let alone connect it to the idea that she'd have a baby - a _child_ , that would grow up into an _adult person_ \- in not that much time at all. The thought was bizarre, and a little disturbing, especially with everything she'd seen in the last two days.

She sighed, pressing her eyes closed and trying to steady her breathing. Not for the first time, she wished Tosh and Owen were here; she still missed them every day, and she would have felt a little better about this whole thing if she'd had more of the people she loved and trusted most in the world around her.

But Tosh and Owen were dead, of course; no getting them back, and thinking about it wasn't going to help anything. Nevertheless, Gwen felt the burn of tears in her squeezed-closed eyes, unable to stop them. She wanted to go find Rhys, pull him into bed with her and kiss him and just hold onto him. She wanted there to be a bed at all; her back hurt, and her shoulders hurt, and she was sure she was bruised all over where she'd fallen after the explosion. More than anything, Gwen really wanted a hug. But she should probably just leave Rhys to his watch, she thought. He'd only fuss and worry over her otherwise.

Still, though. She made a soft noise of frustrated sadness, keeping back a full sob but unable to keep it from slipping out. She just wanted to _sleep._ She wanted to wake up and realise this was all a vivid, unpleasant dream.

"Mmph... Gwen? You awake?"

She twitched, startled for a moment by the voice beside her, accent thickened and roughened by sleep. She let out her breath; she was too jumpy. "Ianto... sorry, did I wake you?"

He pushed himself up on the sofa seat, blinking sleepily and wincing as he rolled out his shoulders. "Dunno if I was properly asleep anyway" he muttered, with a grimace. She saw a shiver run through him, seeing a warm gust of his breath steam out into the orange glow from the windows. "Ugh. It's bloody freezing in here."

"God, isn't it?" She pulled his hands into her own and rubbed his chilly fingers, bringing them both a little warmth. She caught the shadowy edge of a slight, tired smile on his face as he clasped her hands back.

He looked around, eyes scanning over Rhys's distant figure at the other end of the warehouse and passing on, searching. "Where's Jack?"

"Dunno" said Gwen. "Still out, I expect."

Ianto sighed with affectionate resignation. "Probably on the roof."

Gwen had to laugh. "That's what I was assuming, yeah."

Once the moment had subsided he squinted at her. "You okay?"

She snorted. "Other than being stuck in a dark cold warehouse, on the run, had people try and kill me several times in the last few days, with some sort of alien shit we don't understand threatening kids all over the world, and on top of that I just found out I'm pregnant? Yeah, just fine. ...No, wait. I also feel just a little bit sick."

"Oh... d'you want me to..." he paused, as though wondering what he could offer that would actually help, "...bring you something to eat or drink? Or find a bucket?"

"It's fine, Ianto" said Gwen. "I'm not actually going to be sick. I think." She grimaced. "I'll warn you if I am. Just..." she gestured around, taking in their circumstances in general. "You know."

"Ah. Point taken. ...Sorry, Gwen."

She squeezed his hands with a sigh. "Not your fault. God, Rhys and I would be in prison or worse right now if you hadn't got us out. So um, thanks."

He shook his head. "...Actually, this is the part where I admit I didn't even know you were there. I was just trying to get Jack out of... _that_." She watched his face pinch at the memory of the concrete-filled cell. "...The rest was just luck, and being in the right place at the right time."

"...With the right piece of stolen construction machinery, and a solidly improvised plan" she reminded him, patting his arm and shaking her head. "Learn to accept a compliment, Ianto."

He chuckled. "Compliment accepted then, as long as you learn to not sidetrack. I asked if you were okay?"

She winced. "Been better" she admitted.

"...Shall I go get Rhys?"

"No, love" she said gently. "He'll just worry, and feel guilty, and probably try and take the next watch too instead of sleeping himself."

For a moment he looked as though he'd argue, then seemed to change his mind and nodded. "...Fair enough. Anything I can do?"

"N-" she broke off. "Actually, can we just..." she shifted on the sofa, and for a moment he looked perplexed as she shuffled awkwardly into his space, leaning her head against his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him before leaning them both back against his side of the sofa. "...Warmer like this" she elaborated, pushing her head against his shoulder to get more comfortable. "We might both be able to sleep better...?"

She took care to put a slight upwards inflection into the words, trying to make it half a question; giving him an out if he wanted it, because though some of Jack's propensity for touch had clearly rubbed off on him lately, you never did quite know with Ianto.

But after a moment he nodded against her hair, pulling her closer against him so they were both able to stretch out on the sofa together with their heads awkwardly leaning on the arm rest. After a moment of awkwardly rearranging their position, they managed to find a way to fit together; it really was a lot warmer like this.

" _Oof_ " said Ianto, as Gwen accidentally elbowed him in the stomach.

"...Sorry."

"'S'okay." He shifted too, getting comfortable. "...Somehow, this is even less space than that damn bed in Jack's bunker. I wasn't aware that was possible" said Ianto, but he belied the dryness in his tone by holding her closer. "I guess this is a learning experience for all of us."

"Just means you'll appreciate that place more when this is all over."

"Gwen, the Hub got blown up."

"We'll rebuild it. Perfect chance to get Jack to build a bigger bunker. Or, I don't know, a proper room." She grinned, patting Ianto's chest. " _Or_ he could move in with you. Officially, that is. It's not like half his stuff isn't already in your flat anyway."

"Hmm. If your flat was raided, mine probably was too."

He sounded a little flustered, Gwen thought, and had noticeably side-stepped her suggestion. "You and Jack'll just have to redecorate then. If it helps, Rhys and I will too." She chuckled sadly. "We can all go on B&Q and Ikea runs together. It might even be fun."

"I'm glad you can think about home improvement at a time like this."

"I'm doing my best to" she said, sounding rather desperate even to her own ears. She frowned. "Besides, Rhys's been really into all that stuff lately. ...He's going to be so excited to pick stuff for the baby's room."

She felt Ianto smile against the top of her head at this. "...Rhys'll be a good dad."

She resisted the urge to peer up and look at him; it wasn't often Ianto said things like that, in that soft tone of voice too. She suspected he wouldn't have been able to if they'd been face to face, in the light of day. Instead she smiled, despite everything, squeezing her eyes shut and hugging Ianto closer. She still felt a little sick, but it wasn't so bad now, or maybe she was just distracted from it. "Honestly, it's the one thing I'm sure of in all this" she said. "...That, and you and Jack will be really good uncles."

She felt him go tense just for a moment, as though in surprise, before he relaxed in her arms again. "We'll try" he said after a moment, very softly.

She didn't answer, but just held him and let her eyes slip closed; sleep didn't feel quite so far away anymore, and she couldn't quite stifle a yawn.

Ianto laughed softly. "Go to sleep, Gwen."

"Mmm. Only if you do too."

"That sounds like a fair deal."

"G'night Ianto."

"Night."

Despite the cold of the warehouse, she found she was feeling warmer already. And that was enough; before long, she was halfway to sleep to the sound of Ianto's breathing and heartbeat.

Whatever happened tomorrow, she thought with the last of her waking awareness, at least the four of them would face it together.

**Author's Note:**

> For [violetmessages](https://archiveofourown.org/users/violetmessages/pseuds/violetmessages), because we were chatting about Children of Earth, and Gwen and Ianto friendship, and headcanons surrounding physical contact and hugs and stuff and I wrote this really impulsively in my phone notes on my lunch break the very next day.  
>  ~~For less sadness, apply fix-it AU of choice at your own discretion~~


End file.
